Colored metallic finish



Patented Dec; 13, 1938 COLORED METALLIC FINISH Dale Glendon Higgins,Newbur Y" v. V

to E. I. du Pont de Nemours &

Company, Wilmington, DeL, a corporation ofDelaware No Drawing.Application January 21, 1936, Serial No. 60,067

3 Claims; ('01. ill-68).

This invention relates to high luster finishes, and especially to highluster colored metallic finishes" and to the production of adurablenontarnishing colored finish coat.

Heretofore metallic colored finishes have been I produced on paper,cellulose derivative coated fabrics, and the like by adding metallicpigments to the conventional cellulose derivative coating composition,shellac, or other film forming materials and subsequently coating thesame on sheet material. Such finishes are characterized by a relativelydull appearance which isobiectionable for many purposes. Moreover,coatings containing copper bronze pigments are not highly satisfactoryas they are easily and frequently tarnished. Another means of obtainingcolored rn'etallic finishes on cellulose derivative coated fabricscomprised laminating colored metal foil with a suitably prepared base.By metal foil is meant a continuous sheet of approximately 0.0001 to0.05 of an inch thick. Because of their lack of flexibility and tendencyto crack when subjected to repeated flexing the coated fabrics of wovenor non-woven base material of the described composite character are notsuitable for the many .uses, such as book-binding material, material formaking shoes and for other uses of, leatherand artificial leather. Inthe coatings which were made heretofore, it was difiicult to obtainproper anchorage of the colored coating so as to prevent its detachmentfromthe base material after relatively short use.

This invention has as an object the production of improved high lustercolored metallic finishes.

Another object of the invention is the production of high luster coloredmetallic finishes on cellulose derivative coated fabrics and on nonwovenbases.

A still further object is the production of a flexible article having ,abrilliant and highly reflective surface.

Other objects of the invention will appear in connection with thefollowing description:

, The objects-of this invention are accomplished in general by coating asuitably prepared woven or not woven, flexible or rigid base material inany known manner with acellulose derivative I composition, applying anintermediate or anchoring coat of a polyhydric alcohol-polybasic acidtype resin composition, allowing the same to dry to a dust freecondition, applying leaf-like particles of metal bronz flakes to-theresin surface, properly orienting the metal particles, causing them'toadhere thereto, burnishing to obtain a high luster mirror-like surface,baking the varapplying a transparent or translucent, non-tarnishing,protectivecoating of polyhydricalcoholpolybasic acid resin compositionover the mirrorlike surface, and finally applying a suitably coloredtransparent or translucent lacquer as an ultimate surface coat.

In Patent No. 2,087,094 there is described and claimed processes forproducing highly polished mirror-like surfaces to resemble polishedsilver.

In accordance with said invention, the making of themirror-likefinishedcoatings comprises coating a base-materialwith an anchoring coat of apolyhydric alcohol-polybasic acid type resin composition, allowing thesame to dry to a degree of tackiness known in the art as a dust-freecondition, applying metal flakes having reflective surfaces, properlyadhering the particles on the sur face and orienting the metal particleswith their faces outwardly so as to give a mirror-like surface. Thecolors of the materials described in the above mentioned applicationsare limited by the colors of the-metal flakes.

Dyed cellulose nitrate lacquer 'will not anchor firmly to themirror-like surface produced according to the disclosure of thecopending applications mentioned abpve. 9 Furthermore, if a lacquer isapplied directly upon the mirror-like surface which results fromorientation of the metal particles, the high' luster will be impaired,at least to some extent, if for no other reason than the result of theaction of the labqu r solvent or the deorientation of the metal fla es.Now, it has been discovered that if the highly polished mirror-likesurface is coated with a light-transmitting polyhydric alcohol-polybasicacid type resin composition, the colored light-transmitting cellulosenitrate lacquer will anchor satisfactorily to the resin coat and theorientation and other reflective properties of the metal partic es willnot be disturbed.

In a preferred embodiment of this invention a suitable coated fabricbase with the. mirror-like surface of aluminum particles is prepared inaccordance with the disclosure of Patent No.

men to anchor the metal particles permanently,

coat of a light-transmitting non-tarnishing protective compositionconsisting of a China-wood I linseed oil modified polyhydricalcohol-polybasic Percent Parts Dye solution 0. 5 Drycellulosenitrate-.. 7.3

40 oz. 5 sec. cellulose nitrate Ethyl acetate 8.

solution. 9 Ethyl alcohoL- 12. 4

Y a r 27. 9 24 oz. l00-125 sec. cellulose Dry cellulose nitrate.-- 1.7nitrate solution 10. 0 .Ethyl acetate ...'2 3.3 Ethyl acetate 39. 6Ethyl alcohoL; 5.0 Ethyl alcohol 22. 0

. The dye solution contains the following components: Percent Ethyleneglycol acid resin, thinner and a quantity of cobalt and manganese drier.The following are detailed formulations of two suitable compositions forthis purpose.

Composition A Solids 43.88 Percent Glycerol triphtha.late 23.25 Linseedoil 13.75 China-wood oil 6.8 Thinner 53.13% p High flash. naphtha 35.75Mineral spirits 17.38 Drier solution 2.99%-

Cobalt linoleate solution in mineral thinner 1.06 Manganese linoleatesolution in mineral thinner 1.93

Composition B Solids 55.24% Percent Glycerol triphthalate 22.26 Linseedoil 16.49 China-wood oil 16.49 Thinner 43.40%

Toluol 19.73 Mineral spirits 7.89 High flash naphtha... 15.78

Drier solution 1.36.%

- Cobalt linoleate solution in mineral thinner The light-transmittingprotective composition able method whereby a thin coating, sayapproximately 0.1 to 2.0 ounces per square yard is deposited. The coatedmaterial is driedin a heated chamber. Composition A requiresapproximately 4 minutes at 240 deg. F. for the drying time, andComposition B requires approximately 30 minutes at 240 -deg. F. Alight-transmitting coloredlacquer composition is applied to the driedvar- Du Ponts Luxol Fast Scarlet C Du PontsLuxol Fast Orange E "-ylother.

bossing. Printing operations employing suitably colored lacquers may becarried out on limited areas in any combination of patterns.

The exceedingly high brilliance of the colored metallic finishesproduced according to the-in vention is due to thereflection of lightwhich penetrates the transparent dyed lacquer and the resin anchoragefilm and is reflected by the highl reflective metallic interface. 1

While the preferred embodiment of this invention recites apyroxylincoated textile fabric having oriented metal particles appliedover the coating as a base material forthe colored'metallic finishes,other base materials-having the oriented metal particles superimposedthereon may be used, for example,'regenerated cellulose sheet, cellulosederivative sheet material and other sheet materials, such as leather andthe like. The procedure setforth in accordance with this invention isapplicable to rigid as well as to flexible base materials covered withlight reflect ing particles, such as metal, Celluloid, glass, or wood.It is within the scope of this invention to use colored transparentpigments in the outer coating material instead of dissolving soluble'dyes in the coating material, and transparent coating materials havingnatural resin bases can be used to lend its characteristic color.

The product of the present invention may be pers, book covers,artificial flowers, millinery and dress decorating, cigarette wrappers,or. any type of covering material employed in packaging, dresstrimmings, coveringsor bindings for ladies evening slippers where acolored metallic finish is de sira-ble.

The product of the present invention combines the advantages of the highluster of a. colored metallic foil surface with the flexibility andother. desirable properties of coated fabrics or of 'nonwoven bases. Thecombination of colored metal foil to paper while aifording a high lusteris deficient in that the finished product cannot be repeatedly flexedwithout breaking the metal. The metal can be easily torn from thepaper'and these laminated products are so stiffthat their use for manypurposesis limited. V

A still further advantage over the copper bronze finishes is that thecolored metallic finishes described herein are non-tarnishing withrespect to L heat or the chemical action of sulfides, dilute acids, etc.and they are waterproof and impermeable to greases. The highly polishedcolored m e--' tallic finish can be printed on with commercial equipmentto better advantage than metallic foils,

due to the property ofthe metal foil surface of repelling the printingmaterials. The finished material made in accordance with this inventionis useful for wrappingsin conjunction with adhesives since adhesives maybe bonded to the highly polished colored metallic finish with greaterstrength than to metal foils.

It will be evident from the foregoingdescription I that many variationscan be made in the described invention without departing therefrom, andit will be understood that no limitations of m the invention disclosedand dflned in the claims are intended except 'thosewhich arespecifically recited or imposed by the prior art Iclaim: 1. The methodof making anarticle having a highly polished metallic surface whichcomprises applying a resinous coating composition to a base,

allowing the composition to harden until the dustfree stage is reached,which is just tacky enough to retain a firmly adherent thin layer ofmetallic powder, applying over the coating a dusting of metal powder,theindividual particles of which have light reflecting faces, removingthe excess powder, orienting in overlapping relation on the surface ofthe coating the particles adhering thereto, applying a resinouscomposition to the metallicsurface, and applying a subsequent coloredlacquer composition which is light transmitting.

2. Process of claim 1 in which the colored lacquer composition is yellowand the finished product has the appearance of gold leaf.

3. Process of claim 1 in which the anchoring composition andintermediate protecting coat containsan alkyd resin.

DALE GLENDON HIGGINS.

